RECRUITMENT PROCESS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T00644R000100170009-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 6, 2009
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: December 31, 1980
• Content Type: MEMO

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Harry E. Fitzwater
Director of Personnel
Policy, Planning, and Management
SUBJECT Recruitment Process
REFERENCE A. Memo for IG and D/PPPM from DDCI, dated 12
August 1980, Subject: Recommendation.#42 of
Inspector General Report on Recruitment
'Memo for DDCI from D/PPPM, dated 23 September
1980, Same Subject
1. Reference A. requested status reports on problems and progress.
under the new recruiting and processing system. Reference B. was an
interim report. This is the final report.
2. The New Processing System
In addition to the progress noted in reference B. and in spite of the
same continuing problems, new developments can be reported:
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a. The Security Expediters have called L__]of all applicants
based on questionable areas, on the PHS, e.g., drug usage. Of
these, =have been rejected, thus keeping them out of the system.
b. (1e initiated Pre-Investigative Interviews (P11). Conducted
when the applicant is here for an interview by an office, the PiI
seaks to weed out those who will. not meet security and suitability
standards before the field investigation is initiated. Of the
applicants given the PII, an additional have been rejected.
Thus, our up-front screening is eliminatin~=Iof those formerly
going into the system.
c. The Directorates each provided a representative to verify
recruiting requirements. Among their first discoveries were large
numbers of phantom requirements, e.g., requirements for =typists
when there are=]-typists on duty against positions. This has
led to a thorough analysis of each office's Staffing Complement, which
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was found to be outdated and inaccurate. A major project is now
underway to make the Staffing Complements realistic and current.
When this is completed, and along with computer projections of
attrition, we should finally have a firm grasp on true recruiting
requirements.
d. By the use of targeted recruiting and stringent controls,
applicants in process has been reduced from over
e. The time required to initiate processing has been reduced
f. Unfortunately, the time required to clear applicants has
remained the same. This is because the Office of Security had
to divert about= of its field investigators from staff. to
industrial clearances.
g. Again, unfortunately, the time from clearance to EOD
increased by 8%. This is directly attributable to the freeze
during which we had as many as= cleared applicants we were
unable to EOD.. (With the temporary lifting of the freeze, we
should be slightly above ceiling on 31 December although we
lost about 10% of our cleared applicants who took other jobs
because of the freeze.)
h. The value of up-front screening is shown by a significant.
drop in the ratio-of those put in process to those who EOD. From
October, 1979, through April, 1980, it took 2.2 clericals put in
process to ga~e EOD. From May 1980, when the new system
became functional, through October, 1980, this ratio dropped to
16 to 1. For professionals, the results were even more striking,
with the ratio dropping from 2.8 to 1 to 1.9 to 1. This means,
in effect, that one--third fewer professior??u1s had to be processed
to produce, the same number of EOU's.
i. Without the imposition of the stringent controls required
under the new system, trend lines show that processing of even
greater numbers of new applicants would have been chaotic. In
fiscal year 1978, 0 professional applicant files were handled.
In fiscal year 1980, there were files. Without the controls,
it is projected that0 files would have gone into the system,
a 60% increase which would have overwhelmed our ability to complete
processing. As it was, we still initiated processing on 25% more
professional applicants. Since the new system did not become
operational until the second half of the fiscal year, we look
forward to a reduction in both the number of applications going
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4. Summary
While with more money. and manpower the new system could have shown a
greater reduction in processing time, we believe significant progress has
been achieved. Barring the continuation of the freeze, we look for even
further progress this year. We therefore urge that IG recommendation 42
be dropped.
Harry E. Fitzwater
STAT
Distribution:
Orig - Return to D/PPPM
.- DCI
1 DDCI
1-ER
1 - Tl/PPPM (w/held)
23 December 1980.
OPPPM/R&P
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into the system and going into process during this fiscal year.
Even while implementing the new system and cleaning out the high
numbers under the old system, we were able to increase EOD's by
65%, be within 0.15 of our ceiling in spite of the freeze and are
in a posture to be slightly over ceiling on 31 December.
3. Recruiting
a. As noted in reference B., the new system permits us to
achieve a long-desired goal--targeted recruiting. The effective-
ness of our increased emphasis on selective recruiting is
illustrated by the following comparative statistics--showing the
impact of this approach begun in May 1980:
Total Professional/Technical
Applicants
Engineer, Scientist, Computer
Scientist and Electronic
Technician Applicants
These statistics. reflect our success in achieving a 26 percent
decrease-in the number of cases submitted from May through
November 1980 compared.to the same period last year. More
importantly, it shows that our targeted occupations increased
from 14 percent of the total cases submitted to 29 percent, an
increase of 107%. This concentration of effort will permit.us
to meet all of our requirements, especially in the difficult-
to-recruit occupations.
b. We have up-dated our roster of representatives nominated
by their office heads to accompany us on recruiting trips. There
has been a 50% increase in recruiting trips by these office
representatives in the last year.
c. The Directorate Representatives have spent time in the
field with some of our recruiters, and they will meet with, them
all in the future. These visits have been useful in up-dating
the recruiters on the needs of their directorates.
d. We broke all records in the hiring of women and minori iee.
for professional positions. Twenty-six percent of our new
pr~i~ omen. The previous high was 22%. We exceeded
the number of Black professionals entered on duty the previous
year by 29%, and our previous record by 12%.
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I~Xc'cut'" regi9t f
12 August 1980
MEMORANDUM FOR: Inspector General
Director of Personnel Policy, Planning, and.
Management
FROM : Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
SUBJECT : Recommendation #42 of Inspector General Report on.
Recruitment
1. 1 have reviewed the results of your meetings with
on the subject and the most recent memos expanding upon your current
positions. I have also reviewed the original IG recommendation, recent
OPPPM changes to the recruitment processing procedure, and current
statistics and reports on progress. I have come to the following con-
clusions.
2. OPPPM should continue to implement the new system currently under-
way. We will postpone further consideration of the IG recommendation for
a ,pilot system for six months. That will allow enough time to see if OPPPM's
new process, begun. in March/April 1980, bears real fruit.
3. OPPPM will prepare a status report by September 30 for the DCI/
DDCI and the IG providing information on progress and problems in the
recruitment process and, at, a minimum, key indicators such as progress
towards reducing people in the pipeline and towards decreasing processing
time for EODs.
4. By December 31, I request an in-depth report by OPPPM on the
entire recruitment process during 1980.
cc: DCI
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MEMORANDUM FOR:. Deputy Director of Central Intelligenc
FROM: Harry E. Fitzwater
Director of Personnel
Policy, Planning, and Management
SUBJECT: Recruitment Process
REFERENCE: Memo for'IG and D/PPPM from DDCI, dtd 12 August 1980,
Subject: Recommendation #42 of Inspector General
Report on Recruitment
1. Paragraph 3 of the reference asked that a status report be prepared on
progress and problems in the recruitment process and progress in decreasing
processing time. Since the essence of the IG report was that hiring takes too
long, the report is organized to discuss: (1) processing under our new system
and then (2) recruiting..
2. The New' System
,In spite of many.problems (e.g., delays in construction and communications
systems, shortages of personnel and travel funds, the freeze, etc.), significant
accomplishments have been made. Among these are:
a. A new two-part'and shortened application form was developed
and is now'.in use. More significantly, it is being returned much
faster than the old long form.
b. Unclassified fliers describing the work and qualifications
required for offices with the largest needs for applicants were
prepared and are in use.
c. For the first time, security and medical processing
criteria were written in unclassified versions. The aim is to
dissuade individuals who clearly do not meet our criteria
from submitting employment applications.
d. IVhile not designed for the new system, our CAPER computer
program has been debugged and has become invaluable in providing
statistics to monitor the new system.
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e. Dedicated WATS lines have been installed, thereby
greatly reducing the time spent on the telephone contacting
applicants.
f. A Review Unit has been established. This has reduced
from 21 to two days the review of applications to ensure the
applicants have qualifications meeting our requirements.
g. An Expediter Group has been established to ensure
applicants and the offices meet stringent response deadlines
at every stage of selection and processing.
h. As a part of the Expediter Group, security and medical
representatives are screening a licants before offices receive
the applications. As a result,7] percent are called or interviewed
regarding such problems as drugs. Of these,=percent are
rejected and do not get any further in the system. This is a
significant change because sizable numbers of such applicants
previously had a full field investigation and polygraph before
they were rejected.
i. To reduce the numbers in process as required by the new
system model, quotas have been established for each Career Service
in both-cirtical and non-critical occupational categories.
j. Each Directorate has agreed to provide a representative
to ensure its recruitment requirements are realistic and
Recruitment Guides are accurate, to ensure applications for
their Directorates are on target, and to contact their Deputy
Directors and Office Heads on problem areas.
k. We are hand-carrying applicant files to and from the
offices.
3. In spite of continuing problems (for example, two of our work areas are
completely disrupted by construction), significant reductions in the number of
applicants and in processing time have been made:
The number of applicants in process has been cut in half--from over
We are approaching our goal which will permit
OPPPM, OS and OHMS to continue to reduce the processing time.
Applications being considered by offices have been drastically
b
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reduced. As a result, and prodded by our Expediters, offices are
making decisions about applicants much more rapidly.
c. While monthly statistics can prove unreliable, the time
from the beginning of medical and security processing to EOD for
professionals was reduced one-third (7.6 months to 5.0 months)
between April and July.
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d. Clerical processing time has been reduced from 3 1/2 months
to 2 1/2 months, a reduction of 29 percent.
e. Our fast-track processing for a local, unemployed clerical
applicant resulted in a clearance in eight days. The time from
initial contact to.EOD was three weeks.
f. If it were not for the freeze, we would have been at
ceiling on 30 September for the first time in years. As it is,
we have increased our EOD's 65 percent through 18 August of
this fiscal year as contrasted with the same period last fiscal
year. Because of the new system, we have applicants cleared and
available for entrance-on-duty to ensure that we use all of our
entitlements.
4. Recruiting
The greatly reduced numbers required under the new system have made it possible
to begin to achieve a long-desired goal: targeted recruiting. .Instead of all
requirements being given to all recruiters throughout the country, specific require-
ments, based on demographic analyses, are now being given to individual recruiters.
This more focused recruiting is much more efficient and cost-effective and results
in fewer applications being submitted for each job. It also permits us to monitor
recruiting more closely to make certain each requirement is filled.
5. The effectiveness of our increased emphasis on selective recruiting is
illustrated by the following comparative statistics--showing the impact of this
approach begun in May.1980:
May-Aug
1979
May-Aug
1980
These statistics reflect our success in achieving a 22 percent decrease in the
number of cases submitted from May through August 1980 compared to the same period
last year. More importantly, it shows that our targeted occupations increased
from less than 13 percent of the total cases submitted to more than 23 percent.
This is an increase of 41 percent. This concentration of effort will permit us to
meet all of our requirements, especially in the difficult-to-recruit occupations.
Total Professional/Technical
Applicants
Engineer, Scientist, Computer
Scientist and Electronic
Technician Applicants
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6. Similarly, and despite the Federal hiring freeze, we'have already achieved
our goal of increasing the number of minorities recruited and entered on duty. .
or recorfiscald
Barring unforeseen circumstances, we have a good chance of breaking
fiscal year for the number of minorities entered on duty in any previous
7. The offices have worked much more closely with Division
41 recruiting
us ionin FY-80
than they have. in previous years. Office representatives
.trips thus far in FY-80 compared to a total of 27 trips in FY-79. This amounts to
a 50 percent increase in component involvement in recruiting and is reflective of
the efforts we have initiated in the past several years to work more closely with
the offices on their recruitment needs." Last year we formalized a procedure whereby
etrtrips
the offices designated specific individuals tt oi join us on recruiting
syandntacted
of
authoritatively represent the interests
the offices to update this roster and to ensure the offices are aware of our con-
tinuing interest in having them participate in recruiting efforts.
8. In addition to our efforts to involve the offices more in our recruiting
efforts, we note that six of the last seven recruiters assigned to the field have
themselves had extensive substantive experience in various offices outside of OPPP)"1.
This, in combination with six months of formal and on-the-job training including
at least half a day in each office in the Agency prior to their field assignments,
equips them well to represent the entire Agency in filling all Agency requirements.
9. Recruitment requirements are becoming more refined in both quality and
quantity. Recruiters are concentrating on these requirements and are forwarding
only applications which are on target. The.review and expediter mechanisms are
furnishing the offices with high quality applicants. Reduced numbers are permitting
OPPPM, OS and OMS to clear applicants much more rapidly.
10. To be sure, there are still problems to solve and refinements to be made.
In summary, we remain enthusiastic about the improvements made in recruitment and
processing in light of the significant progress made to date.
STAT
cc: Inspector General
air
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